豆知识 2009-05-17&05-23 网络相册

 When asked, what should be saved in a fire? Along with family and pets, people often choose photos. If photos mean a lot to you, it's time to learn why keeping them on the web makes sense. This is Online Photo Sharing in Plain English.

 

As you know, cameras and photography have changed. What used to appear on paper now appears on computers and phones. No matter the format¹, we still love our photos and now they have new powers.

 

But first, let's be practical. These days a fire may not be your biggest worry. A computer failure can destroy thousands of memories. You can avoid this by keeping your photos backed up on the Internet. A number of sites make it inexpensive and easy for you to upload your photos for safe keeping. Now, because photos can be uploaded to a website, all sorts of cool things are possible. 

 

To make our point, let's look at the old way. You visit the Grand Canyon² and take beautiful photos. You get them developed, and a few days later add them to a photo album that sits on a shelf. Few people see them and it's a pain to find a specific photo in all those albums. Boo! 

 

Now, let's look at the new way, with a popular service I use called Flickr. You visit the Grand Canyon and take beautiful photos with a digital camera. Once you're home, you move the photos onto your computer, and then upload them to the Flickr website. You just click "upload", find the photos on your computer, and upload them to the web for safe keeping. Ah, sweet piece of mind. Yay! 

 

But it doesn't stop there. You need to make sure that it's easy to find photos in the future. Along with adding titles, you can add keywords or tags⁴ that describe the photo. You might use tags like "Grand Canyon", "Arizona", "Park", "Scenery", "2007” to describe this photo. Each of these tags becomes a way for you to find photos in the future. Just click a tag³ and a thousand photos become a few related⁵ ones. Now, once your photos are online and findable, it's time to look at another fun part of online photo sharing - the actual sharing. 

 

You can choose to make your photos public or private, it's up to you. Private is like a photo on your wall, few see it. But public is like taking your photos to a party. They become a representation⁶ of you and offer a way to make friends. So, try sharing your online photos with the public. Here's what to expect.

 

Friends and even strangers may leave comments on your photos. You can see which of your photos are most popular, and you may even discover that you're more motivated to take photos, because you want to share them with the world. 

 

So, photo sharing sites like Flickr do two things really well: One, they keep your photos safe, organized and findable; and two, they make photo sharing fun by making photos social.

 

At the very least, back up your photos online. But if you are ready for fun, open your photos to the world, and start to feel the love.

1 format   

n.设计，版式；[计算机]格式，DOS命令:格式化(磁盘)，用于空盘或使用过的磁盘建立新空盘来存储数据；v.使格式化，设计，安排

参考例句：

• Please format this floppy disc.请将这张软盘格式化。
• The format of the figure is very tasteful.该图表的格式很雅致。

2 canyon   

n.峡谷，溪谷

参考例句：

• The Grand Canyon in the USA is 1900 metres deep.美国的大峡谷1900米深。
• The canyon is famous for producing echoes.这个峡谷以回声而闻名。

3 tag   

n.标签，附属物，名称，谚语；vt.附以签条，尾随，添饰，指责，连接；vi.紧随，尾随

参考例句：

• Please tag your baggage.请在你的行李上贴上标签了。
• The clerk attached a price tag to each article.店员给每一件商品系上标价签。

4 tags   

n.[计算机]标记( tag的名词复数 )；附加语（为加强语气，如 Yes, I do 一句中的 I do）；名言；污块毛

参考例句：

• He put name tags on all his shirts. 他给自己所有的衬衣都缝上了标有姓名的签条。
• The old scholar's writing is always full of tags. 那位老学者的文章里总是有很多名言警句。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 related   

adj.有关系的，有关联的，叙述的，讲述的

参考例句：

• I am not related to him in any way.我和他无任何关系。
• We spent days going through all related reference material.我们花了好多天功夫查阅所有有关的参考资料。

6 representation   

n.表现某人（或某事物）的东西，图画，雕塑

参考例句：

• The painting is a representation of a storm at sea.这幅画描绘的是海上的暴风雨。
• All parties won representation in the national assembly.所有政党在国民大会中都赢得了代表资格。